Impacts of climate change on the hydrology of northern midlatitude cold regions

Abstract

Cold region hydrology is conditioned by distinct cryospheric and hydrological processes. While snowmelt is the main contributor to both surface and subsurface flows, seasonally frozen soil also influences the partition of meltwater and rain between these flows. Cold regions of the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes have been shown to be sensitive to climate change. Assessing the impacts of climate change on the hydrology of this region is therefore crucial, as it supports a significant amount of population relying on hydrological services and subjected to changing hydrological risks. We present an exhaustive review of the literature on historical and projected future changes on cold region hydrology in response to climate change. Changes in snow, soil, and streamflow key metrics were investigated and summarized at the hemispheric scale, down to the basin scale. We found substantial evidence of both historical and projected changes in the reviewed hydrological metrics. These metrics were shown to display different sensitivities to climate change, depending on the cold season temperature regime of a given region. Given the historical and projected future warming during the 21st century, the most drastic changes were found to be occurring over regions with near-freezing air temperatures. Colder regions, on the other hand, were found to be comparatively less sensitive to climate change. The complex interactions between the snow and soil metrics resulted in either colder or warmer soils, which led to increasing or decreasing frost depths, influencing the partitioning rates between the surface and subsurface flows. The most consistent and salient hydrological responses to both historical and projected climate change were an earlier occurrence of snowmelt floods, an overall increase in water availability and streamflow during winter, and a decrease in water availability and streamflow during the warm season, which calls for renewed assessments of existing water supply and flood risk management strategies.

Shifting Hydrological Processes in a Canadian Agroforested Catchment due to a Warmer and Wetter Climate

“…In addition, considering that Acadie River Catchment is representative of the typical agroforested landscapes with relatively warm winters across the south shore lowlands of the St. Lawrence River Watershed, the results found in this study could be extrapolated to nearby catchments with similar landscape and climate. Furthermore, since this model includes all the major physical processes at play in this type of environments, it would be relatively easy to apply it in similar environments or similar landscapes located in the warmer sectors of the Dfb climate class, which have been shown to be particularly sensitive to warming [15]. The model is particularly well suited to analyze the interactions between the hydrological processes at play, and to assess their sensitivity to changes in temperature and precipitation.…”

“…Results from this study can be used for sustainable farming development and planning in regions with hydroclimatic characteristics similar to the Acadie River Catchment, where climate change may have a significant impact on the dominating hydrological processes.Water 2020, 12, 739 2 of 29 controlled by snow processes that are expected to be particularly sensitive to climate change [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Changes to snow accumulation and melt are expected to modify the timing, duration and magnitude of streamflow in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere [15], which could redefine flooding risks as well as hydrological services, such as water supply from snowmelt runoff. The interactions between snow and vegetation play a significant role in snow accumulation [16,17], which can influence runoff volumes and timing.…”

Mitigation of Suspendable Road Dust in a Subpolar, Oceanic Climate

“…Many of these cities have applied a host of short-and long-term mitigation measures to limit road dust emissions, such as speed reductions, studded tire bans, stronger bitumen asphalt, and the application of dust-binding and road cleaning chemical agents with some success [21,26]. As winter temperature, atmospheric humidity, and precipitation increase in many parts of the world due to climate warming, maritime winter conditions with frequent snow and frost cycles may become more prevalent in high-latitude regions [28]. The degree to which these wet, oscillating weather conditions affect the magnitude and fate of road dust is not fully understood.…”

Mass balance modelling and climate sensitivity of Saskatchewan Glacier, western Canada

“…Global warming is expected to cause reduced snowfall in cold regions, earlier snowmelt in spring and a longer ice melt period in summer (e.g. Aygün et al, 2019;Barnett et al, 2005). Even if the amount of precipitation remains unchanged, warming alone will reduce snow and ice storage in catchments, affecting the seasonality of river streamflow regimes and accelerating water losses to the ocean (Barnett et al, 2005;Escanilla-Minchel et al, 2020;Huss et al, 2017;Huss and Hock, 2018).…”